No. 14 Squadron (RAF): Second World War

When war broke out in 1939, No. 14 Squadron had already sent twenty years in Palestine and Jordan. As war beckoned, the squadron briefly moved to Egypt, then back to the Jordan. In May 1940, as it became increasingly likely that Italy would enter the war, the squadron was moved to the Sudan. From there it spent nearly a year attacking the Italian East African empire in Eritrea and Ethiopia.

After its year in the Sudan, in the remaining months of 1941 the squadron was sent to the western Desert, Iraq and Palestine, before returning to the desert in November. During this period No. 14 Squadron concentrated on bombing land targets.

March 1943 saw a change a role and a change of location, when the squadron moved to Algeria to being two years of anti-submarine duties. In June 1944 it moved to Sardinia, and then over the winter of 1944 back to Britain, resuming operations on 2 February 1945, still performing anti-submarine duties. The wartime squadron was disbanded on 1 June 1945, and replaced by a re-numbered No. 143 Squadron.

Gloster Gladiator Aces, Andrew Thomas. A look at the wartime career of the only biplane fighter still in RAF service during the Second World War. Covers the Gladiator's service in Finland, Malta, North Africa, Greece, Aden, East Africa and Iraq, where despite being outdated it performed surprisingly well.

How to cite this article:
Rickard, J (16 May 2007), No. 14 Squadron (RAF): Second World War, http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RAF/14_wwII.html